Controversial Predator Control

[Drew]

Bonebuster, most coyotes do not kill just to kill research has proven that over and over, just like wolves few kill just to kill. Yes they do rest, the lounge around to conserve energy and rest like every other animal. They are not smarter than past coyotes, they just have more opportunities than before, hence the population growth near the suburbs (free food with little work). I've have hunted them and seen them outsmart some of the best hounds, traps, and calls (that's why i love the challenge). Hate cars? ever take a drive towards detroit and see them walking along the roadside hunting a few feet from the highway during rush hour? It's a common every day thing...so is following a hay mower getting mice and other animals killed by it.

Herkimerhunter, just like every other predator some will not think of harming them. i think you'd have to involve some falconary groups to really study the birds and the effects they create....have you done any research online? I'd be interested to read it. I'm sure a few groups would gladly share info with you.

[Bonebuster]

When I was a kid seeing a hawk or eagle was a rare treat. Don`t remember much talk of coyotes until the mid eighties or so either. Things have changed. For the better no doubt. Coyotes howl behind my house every night. Eagle sightings are almost daily, and hawks abound.

The first dead coyote I ever saw was in 1983.
It was a male and he weighed about tweny five to thirty pounds I would guess. No one would have ever guessed that tweny years later 50 plus pounders, though rare, would start showing up.

In my other post I said coyotes kill everything and almost anything they come across. They also EAT everything and almost anything they come across. They kill alot of my neighbors sheep and don`t eat them, but I think its because they get disturbed.

Where I live,if you see a coyote from the road, and you so much as take your foot from the accelerater, they are heading for cover. The fact that they have figured out they can hunt freely in urban areas only solidifies what I said about their becoming "smarter". How do they know we can`t? No matter how I try to think otherwise,
a coyote who is not afraid of being seen in daylight is a bad yote. He does not know fear because he has LEARNED there IS nothing to fear.

I know of ALOT of fellow hunters who have shot deer and upon recovery there is only bones and hide left. With only a couple of hours from hit to recovery . It seems this went from never happening, to a major concern every time you shoot at last light. How many yotes does it take to eat a deer in two hours?

I have read that yotes don`t hunt in packs. Hmmm.
I have read that they are usually solitary. Hmmm.

The way I see it, raptors no doubt kill, probably
more than we realize. They have not changed much except that there are more of them.

Coyotes I believe have changed. Alot. In a short period of time. And I believe they will continue to change.

At the very least the size of the skins on my wall have increased dramatically. As does my respect for the challenge the wily yote presents.

[NightHawk]

For some reason this is an emotional subject. I don't know why. If raptors killed big game there would be an outcry to "delist" them. As it is they kill small game.

 All animals need to be professionally and scientifically managed for the benifit of all

[shootrmn]

Like others have said I beleive they are the spirits of the grandfathers and ancient ones. I will not kill them for any reason.